Singin' in the Rain

Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 musical comedy, directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. Gene Kelly also stars in the movie, alongside Donald O'Connor and Debby Reynolds. From everybody in my class who had already seen the film, there was unanimous agreement that it was fantastic. This lead me to have high expectations going in and it defiantly lived up to them.

The film is based around the time of the introduction of the "talkies", or movies with sound. Don Lockwood and his co-actress Lina Lamont are Holloywood, silent film stars. Once Warner Brother's Studios start putting sound with their movies, Don and Lina's studio decides that it needs to do the same thing. This proves to be a difficult transition, mainly due to the fact that Lina, although considered quite beautiful, has a horrible voice that the studio does not want audiences to discover. After a bad reception from the preview audience of the first attempt at making a "talkie", Don is ready to accept that his fame and career are over. With a brilliant idea from his life-long friend, Cosmo Brown, and love interest, Kathy Seldon, though, things start touring around! They have decided do use Don's amazing dancing and singing skills, from his former days of busking and performing for small crowds with Cosmo, to make the film into a musical. The only problem is Lina, who's singing voice is even harder to tolerate than her regular talking voice. The story is accompanied by mostly up-beat musical performances and although, at times I found the music to be repetitive and drag on, the energetic stunts and comic relief during the songs made up for it.

What I liked the most about this film was the mix of characters that they put together. There was an actress with an un attractive quality, two talented, upbeat guys who played off each other very well and a strong willed woman with a big role in the film, which wasn't every common at that time. All four of the actors portrayed their character very successfully and once they were all put together in the film it added a more dynamic element, rather than, say, a protagonist and his side kick.

I would recommend this film to anyone who is looking for a solid feel-good musical comedy. It's a great movie that would appeal to audiences of every age!